My First Mission - LC Archangel
Admiral Archangel
stood looking out of the window of his quarters on the Platform Daedelus. He
sighed silently. He had to talk to the cadets. No one liked to talk to cadets.
They were like fleas. Small, and insignificant, but can be a big pain in the
rear at the same time. His brain fumbled with the possibilities of just going
back to bed. Maybe his old bones didn’t need to try to keep up with the new
cadets. But he had no choice. The Fleet commander made him Training Officer for
a reason, though most are still baffled by it.
“Sir, the first
batch of cadets are ready for you.” Came the voice of his Command Attaché, Vice
Admiral Kylie Darklighter. She had been his friend for ages, ever since he had
first met her on the Avenger. “What will you be talking to them about, if I may
be so bold”
“You may, Darky. I will be telling them about the Vagli
Run.” He replied. An audible gasp from behind him brought a smile to his face.
“You aren’t going
to tell them that! That’s the worst thing you can tell them!”
“It’s the best
thing for them to know. They need to know about that kind of thing, so that
they are prepared.”
“If you think it’s
right, go ahead. Anyways, last night was great, I hope to see you later then” Darky kissed Archangel softly on the lips, then walked off to take a shower,
her bathrobe already beginning to fall. Archangel smirked, and left to the meeting hall.
Fifteen cadets
stood in perfect attention in front of him, staring blanking at the wall just
above Archangel’s head. They didn’t move, they barely
breathed, and they had the most pure of fear in their eyes. Many tales have
been told about Archangel, like the Drive of Kraken Squadron at the
Battle of Caracus, or the Siege of Karana, where Archangel single-handedly saved the life of the ATF
BGCOM, AD TK-2107, who had been captured in an attack on the Super Star
Destroyer Avenger. But those were the true ones. There were others that said
that he had saved the lift of the Flight Officer Admiral BubbaX at one stage. Archangel just shrugged this off, and replied “I
wouldn’t save Bubba even if he paid me. Or gave me Nunbeer Corp”
“Welcome, Cadets. I
am, as I’m sure all of you know, or at least should know, Admiral Archangel.
Anything I say here is to stay in here alone. I assume you understand. Now… ok,
at ease, and take a seat. I don’t like having to torture you lot too much.”
The cadets quickly
shuffled to seats around the long table that filled most of the meeting hall.
They looked to each other, wondering what they were in for.
“Have any of you
heard of the Vagli Ridge?” Archangel
asked, as he paced the top of the table. The cadets shook their heads timidly,
not knowing if this has anything to do with their training.
“Good. Vagli Ridge
is a natural phenomenon that is impassable for hyperspace faring ships. One of
the main trade routes of the Tie Corps travels along it’s fringe, because it
acts as a wall which protects the convoys. No one can attack from that side, so
it’s safe.” He paused, and gazed around the room.
“I was on my very
first mission. My squadron had been assigned to a convoy of food stuffs, and
raw materials. We flew in Tie Advanced fighters, with a normal payload of
concussion missiles”
“We set off from
Vagli Prime, and set a course for the Vagli Run. It should have been an easy
run, so they didn’t mind putting a barely green squadron on escort for it. My
commander, MAJ Pete Mitchell was leading the escort, and I was in Flight 3. We
flew in Raptor Squadron, off the Imperial Star Destroyer Subjugator. My first,
and favorite ship in the fleet.”
“Half way through
the run, we caught several abnormalities on the sensors of the Corvette that
was also escorting the convoy. I think it was called Coursa Light. Flight 2 was
sent to investigate. After about 5 minutes, two dreadnoughts, and three fighter
squadrons dropped out of hyperspace.”
Archangel glanced around the room, watching the
startled faces of the cadets before him. It was hard for him to talk about
this. The cadets sat in silence, staring at Archangel with a mix of awe, and fear.
“The squadron
reacted slowly, and soon we had lost Two, and Nine. I took control of flight 3,
because Nine was it’s flight leader…”
<strange flash
back, wavy lines, odd music, etc, etc, you get the point.>
“Two fighters coming
in at 059 degrees”
“Flight 2 attacking
Dreadnought Fallout. Arming two. Firing. Seven direct hits, repeat seven direct
hits”
“Raptor One, we
have a pair of Y-Wings attacking us, help us out!”
“Flight three
moving to assist the Coursa Light” Archangel heard himself say. He wasn’t in his body, he was sort
of next to himself, watching, and hearing the battle again. Long streams of
laser fire rained past him, and from his cannons. He watched himself target one
of the Y-wings, and let off a concussion missiles. The Y-wing exploded in an
amazing cloud of red, and yellow.
Suddenly, the
fighter bucked, and shook as it was hit with a stream of fire from the other
Y-Wing. His controls suddenly ceased to function, small bolts of energy rolling
over them. He stopped in space, unable to move, but with a perfect view of the
battle.
</strange flash
back, wavy lines, odd music, etc, etc, you get the point>
“I sat there for 4
hours, watching my friends dying, and not being able to help them. There were
four, yes, only four left out of the squadron. Only when the Subjugator arrived
did I get reascued. I was promoted to Lieutenant, and Flight Leader of Flight 3
in a newly opened squadron.
“Why am I telling
you this? Because you need to know the being a pilot means you can get killed,
no matter how good you are, no matter how many kills you have to your name. I
have over 250 combat kills to my name, and I could fie tomorrow. Remember that
a pilot is not invincible, and shouldn’t think he is either. Once you believe that,
you will die. You will be too consumed with your assumed invincibility that you
will not dodge that extra laser bolt, or you will not notice that enemy fighter
off to port. Remember what I have taught you, and you will survive.”
He looked around
the room, and smiled.
“Cadets, ten hut!
Attention! Cadets dismissed!”
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